THE NATIONAL INSURANCE AND CIVIL SERVICE (SUPERANNUATION) RULES, 1948.

Persons having pension rights in former employment

5.—(1) In the case of a person to whom Rule 2 applies, who, on the 1st January, 1946, or at any time thereafter, had pension rights in a pension scheme associated with his former employment, the period of his former employment shall be taken into account for the purposes of the Superannuation Acts subject to, and to the extent provided by, the following provisions of this rule.

(2) Such part of the period of his former employment as was pensionable employment for the purposes of that pension scheme shall—

(a) where in the opinion of the Minister after consultation with the Government Actuary the rights conferred by that scheme were not substantially inferior in value to the benefits conferred on civil servants by the Superannuation Acts, be treated as service as a civil servant; and

(b) where in the opinion of the Minister after such consultation the said rights were substantially inferior in value to those benefits, be reduced by such proportion as appears to the Minister to be just, having regard to the value of the said rights, and the remainder treated as service as a civil servant:

Provided that—

(i) where the period treated as service as a civil servant under this paragraph is less than one-half of the period of his former employment (and for the purpose of this proviso, if the period of his former employment was not an exact number of years, any part of a year which is less than six months shall be ignored and any part which is six months or more shall be treated as one year, and, if the period of his former employment exceeded twenty years, it shall be treated as being twenty years), the person may in manner provided by paragraph (2) of the last preceding rule pay into the Exchequer a sum equal to two per cent. of his former emoluments multiplied by the number of years by which the period so treated as service as a civil servant falls short of one-half of the period of his former employment, and in that event the said number of years shall be added to the period treated as service as a civil servant;

(ii) where the aggregate of the period treated as service as a civil servant in a case to which sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph applies (including any years added in accordance with the immediately preceding provision of this proviso) and of his actual period of service as a civil servant is less than the minimum period of service required by the Superannuation Acts for the payment of an allowance or gratuity, but the said aggregate period would, but for the reduction made in accordance with the sub-paragraph (b), have been sufficient for an allowance or gratuity to be granted, such allowance or gratuity may be granted as though the said aggregate period had been equal to that minimum period, so, however, that its amount shall be reduced by a proportion equal to the proportion which the number of years by which the said aggregate period falls short of the minimum period bears to the number of year in the minimum period.

(3) Where it appears to the Minister—

(a) that the benefits conferred by a pension scheme are of a value or kind commonly provided by a friendly society or savings bank and do not make adequate provision for retirement; and

(b) that the contributions deducted from the salaries of those having rights in that scheme are less than two and one-half per cent. of such salaries;

he may direct that rights in that pension scheme shall be disregarded for the purposes of these Rules.

(4) If—

(a) any person to whom paragraph (1) of this rule applies has, before these Rules come into operation or before he becomes a civil servant (whichever is the later), ceased to have the pension rights to in that paragraph; or

(b) any such pension rights have, in connection with any provision made by the Act or by the National Insurance Act, or in anticipation of the making of any such provision, been created otherwise than in the ordinary course; or

(c) there has been default in making any transfer in whole or part of any pension fund or assets held for the purpose of the pension scheme in accordance with Part IV of these Rules;

the rights conferred by these Rules may be so modified or extinguished as may appear to the Minister to be appropriate, and the Minister may, in particular, in the case of a person to whom sub-paragraph ( a) of this paragraph applies, require the payment into the Exchequer by that person of the amount of any payment received by him in respect of his pension rights.

(5) If a person to whom paragraph (1) of this rule applies (not being a person who under the pension scheme associated with his former employment was entitled, without the consent of his employer in that employment or of any other person, to retire with a pension at the age of sixty or any earlier age) retires from the Civil Service at his own request before he attains the age at which he was, under that scheme, entitled without such consent to retire with a pension, or the age of sixty-five, if that is earlier, the Minister may direct that the reckoning of the period of his former employment for the purposes of the Superannuation Acts in accordance with these Rules shall be subject to such adjustment as he may, with the consent of the Treasury, determine.